


Security System

by ScootyPuffJrSucks



Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Fluff, Gift Exchange, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-20
Updated: 2014-08-20
Packaged: 2018-02-13 23:39:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2169720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScootyPuffJrSucks/pseuds/ScootyPuffJrSucks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ty and Zane have a rough start opening their book store and Ty has a great solution to their problem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Security System

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ruyu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruyu/gifts).



> This is the first thing I've written in over a decade.

The store was quiet and mostly empty. Soft music played near the counter. There were no customers, but for a Sunday evening in early April that wasn’t unusual.

Or at least Zane assumed it wasn’t unusual.

Black Market Books had only been opened for a few weeks now, so customers were few and far between, but sales had been picking up in the last few days as word of their opening spread. He hoped sales would pick up soon as the tourists started came out to see Fells, arriving on the water taxi from the Harbor. Which was fine. He and Ty were still adjusting to life after retirement, so it was nice to take things slowly.

Right then, Zane was just enjoying the quiet afternoon, working on inventory and stocking some new arrivals. Head bent over the counter he heard the chime over the door.

“Hi. Welcome to…” Lifting his head up to greet the customer, he paused at the barrels pointed shakily in his direction, and the young men behind them. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

~*~*~

When he heard Zane’s quiet complaint, Ty paused in his shelving and set down the books in his hand. He was near the front of the store, several shelves away from the door, so he’d heard the chime, but from Zane’s tone, he knew something wasn’t right. Resisting the urge to curse, he slid quietly around the shelves and moved toward the door.

“Shut up and don’t move. Just give us whatever’s in the register.”

Anger shot up Ty’s spine followed quickly by annoyance. They just opened. The register didn’t contain much cash at the moment. Peering around the shelf closest to the door, he assessed the situation, anger and irritation increasing. Two weeks. They’d been open two fucking weeks. Two weeks of peace and quiet, and there were once again guns pointed at his fiancé. Granted, the kids didn’t look like much of a threat, but you can never underestimate an idiot with a gun. Or two of them.

Ty’s shelf was slightly behind their would-be robbers. He glanced around the corner again, making eye contact with Zane.

Zane, hands slightly raised, palms out, looked calm, if a little exasperated at the situation. “Okay. Okay. I’ll get you whatever you want.” He moved toward the register on his left, still holding Ty’s gaze, but his eyes flicked down and to the right, where Ty knew their guns were tucked under the counter.

Ty scowled but nodded and stepped out from behind the shelf and approached the kid nearest to him. Let’s get this over with.

~*~*~

One of the robbers got off several shots as Zane ducked behind the counter and reached for one of the guns. Zane uttered a curse as he heard the bullets hit the wall behind the counter. Just great. He quickly swung around the end of the counter and stood, gun pointed steadily at the kid closest to him.

“Drop it.”

Whether it was the gun, Zane’s tone or his withering glare, the guy finally looked a little afraid. He raised his hands, palms out, gun pointed at the ceiling, and started to back away. “Woah, woah. Uh, sorry man. Wrong place. Didn’t mean anything…”

“Shut up.”

Idiot Number One finally looked behind him to find another gun in his face. He glanced down at his partner who was on the floor hands clutching his nose, blood seeping between his fingers and onto the floor.

“Fuck.”

“I said shut up and don’t fucking move. Zane, you wanna call this in?”

Zane kept his eyes and gun trained on the moron still standing and reached for the phone behind the counter. “Hell of a lazy Sunday, huh?”

~*~*~

“Two weeks, Zane! There are bullets holes in the wall and blood stains on the floor and we’ve only be open two fucking weeks.”

Zane sat on the couch in their living room upstairs and watched Ty pace angrily from wall to wall, arms gesturing wildly. Once the cops had come and gone and the store had been locked up for the night, they’d moved upstairs and Ty couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“We do live in Baltimore. It’s not the safest city around.”

“We’re in Fells Point! We’re in the center of tourist-ville! And what idiot robs a book store? A bookstore that just opened! A book store run by two former FBI agents!”

“Not common knowledge.”

“Still.” Ty finally stopped in the middle of room and turned to Zane, arms crossed, his expression somewhere between angry and pouty. “I don’t like seeing a gun pointed at you. We’re supposed to be passed all that, Zane. Retired.”

Zane stood and moved to wrap his arms around his fiancé, resting his chin on Ty’s shoulder. “Baby, everything’s alright. I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about anything.” Zane turned his head and smirked into Ty’s neck.

Ty pushed back and glared at him. “I’m not worrying. I’m sure you’d have been fine even without me there, but it should happen in the first place.” He sighed and hugged Zane closer. “We need to install a security system or something.”

“How would that help? This was the middle of a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon. The store was open.”

“I don’t know, but we need something. I’ll figure it out.”

“If the word ‘Digger’ comes out of your mouth the answer is no.”

Ty laughed. “Nah, I’ll think of something that won’t involve explosives. Maybe.” He turned his head and brushed his lips against Zane’s.

Zane hummed and increased the pressure on the kiss, moving his lips against Ty’s and his hands lower along Ty’s back before he released him and stepped back. “Come on, let’s get some dinner and you can brainstorm.”

~*~*~

Late on Friday afternoon, Zane was sitting in one of the armchairs next to the counter reading when he heard the key in the shop’s back door. It was another slow day and he hadn’t had a customer since lunch. The back door to the shop opened and closed.

“I’ve got it.” Ty called from the back.

“Got what?” Zane asked without lifting his head from his book. Ty had been out all morning on some secret errand and Zane was kind of afraid to know what it was.

“The answer to our security problem.”

“I told you not to call Digger.”

“I didn’t. Besides, this is better.”

Zane finally glanced up. Ty stood in the doorway to the back room leaning against the frame. He practically bounced with excitement, the grin on his face spread from ear to ear. Zane narrowed his eyes. “What did you do?”

Ty’s grin grew impossibly wider. “Well, I figured we needed something like a guard dog, only less…canine.”

“Ty, no. No.”

“You don’t even know—“

“I do, and no.”

“But—“

“No!”

“Zane! Come on! It won’t be as bad as you think. Plus, it’s kind of too late.”

“Ty. You didn’t.” Zane stood and pushed past Ty into the back. He gaze landed on a small box by the back door and he finally heard the soft mewing coming from inside. “Oh, god, why?”

Ty stepped around him and knelt next to box. Zane approached and peered inside. Two tiny, and very fluffy, black kittens sat within gazing up at him. One started to purr as Ty reached inside and gently stroked one finger behind its ear.

“They’ll be great guard cats, Zane,” Ty said as he put his other hand in the box to pet the second kitten. “Pound for pound the most effective killing machine in the world. Or at least they will be when they’re older. And trained. Plus, every bookstore needs a cat or two.” Ty turned his head and smiled up at Zane.

And that smile did him in. Zane couldn’t say no to that smile and Ty knew it. He sighed and smiled back at Ty and his two new security guards. “Okay. They can stay. But I pray to god they better like me more than Cross’s cats did.”

“That’s why I got kittens. I can train them. And I’m sure they’ll at least tolerate you.”

The kittens did more than just tolerate Zane. Every morning, Zane woke up to two kittens sleeping on him or as close to on him as they could manage. They kept him company each day in the bookstore, playing on the counter or sleeping in his lap while he read. One even liked to sit on Zane’s shoulder as he walked around the shop. They ran around and played in the aisles and slept high up on the shelves. And Ty did his best to train them into little killing machines, as far as anyone can ever train a cat.

~*~*~

Zane woke suddenly. Something had disturbed him, but he wasn’t sure what. They were sprawled on the couch in the living room having fallen asleep while watching a movie. Well, the movie may have been interrupted by other activities. It was warm for October, so the windows were cracked, but there were no unusual sounds coming from outside. As he lay on his back with Ty draped across him, Zane realized two things: Ty was awake and stiff with tension and the cats were gone.

“What’s wrong?” He whispered.

Ty looked up at him. “I heard a noise. Not sure where though.” Ty froze as an unidentifiable noise came from the first level. “That answers that.” Ty rolled off the couch and walked silently to the side table where two guns were kept in a drawer. Zane stood and reached for his sweatpants, watching as Ty handed Zane his gun, checked his own weapon and turned toward the door to the first level.

“Ty, put your pants on,” Zane whispered.

“What?” Ty glanced down as if just realizing he was naked. “Someone might be downstairs.”

“I know that. Put some pants on.”

“Zane, they could be robbing us right now.”

“So quit arguing and put on some fucking pants.” Zane threw Ty’s sweats at his chest.

Ty grumbled quietly as he put his pants on and turned back toward the door. Which was open. He looked back at Zane, who shrugged. “I know I closed it when I came up.” Zane whispered. “Wait. Where are the cats?”

“What?”

“The cats, where are they? They weren’t on the couch when I woke up.” He looked at the door again. “You don’t think they…?”

“You’re sure you closed it?”

“Positive.”

“Did you lock it?”

“No idea. Doesn’t matter. They couldn’t have opened it. They’re cats.”

Ty opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by another noise. “Shit. Let’s go”

They slowly made their way down the stairs, trying to pick up any other noise from the store. Ty reached the bottom and started to look around the wall, but they both jumped at the sudden yell of surprise and pain and rushed around the corner guns raised. Zane reached to flick on the overhead lights.

And found their third would-be robber in six months jumping around like a mad man in the middle of the store to a steady stream of cursing. They’d found the source of the noise and also the cats. One was clinging to the man’s back and shoulder and the other was digging into his thigh dangerously close to his groin. “Am I really seeing this?”

“Yup.” Ty whistled softly and both cats released the robber, jumping down and winding between Ty’s and then Zane’s legs.

“I take back every bad thing I ever said about you training the cats.”

“Killing machines, Zane.”

 


End file.
